The X-ray Beam: Half Life Theory

In this iteration, I am proud to present a blogger whose writing style and content make his website, Half Life Theory, one of my personal favorites.

I have just dimmed the lights, put on my protective lead, and have the patient prepped.

So without further ado, let us proceed:

1) First off, thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to answer these questions. I love your moniker, Half Life Theory (makes me think of radioactive materials which, as part of our Nuclear Medicine department, I have to deal with constantly).

Can you tell me your “light bulb” moment on how this name came to be the one you chose for your blog?

I was watching a YouTube video about this guy who had recently quit his job.

He explained how the average lifespan of a man was 70 years old.

He had recently celebrated his 35th birthday.

So by that 70 year old lifespan threshold, he was at the halfway point of his life.

I just thought that concept was powerful.

Now we know the actual average lifespan of a man in the US is 78 years old, which would make 39 the average halfway point of a man in America.

Either way, I thought it was something we should consider more seriously.

For many of us in our 30’s, we have already lived about half our lives.

Half Life Theory is about taking control of the second half of your life without being compelled to HAVE to work at a job for money, to spend it doing things you actually love.

What were some of the other names you considered before going with this one?

Inevitablepathtofreedom.com

Was actually such a strong consideration, I reserved the domain name as well.

2) When did you decide to pursue a career as an engineer? Were there any influential people or events that made you embark on this career path?

I can’t say there was much strong consideration to be honest.

Just a lot of strong coaching from my parents.

I did well in math and science so I knew I had a strong affinity for engineering since I was young.

But we basically settled on Mechanical Engineering because we thought it would lead to good career options.

3) If you had to do it all over again, would you choose the same career path?

Hmm, that’s a good question.

I don’t think so.

I know now that a career in Accounting and Finance would have probably led to more money, but I’ve always truly enjoyed learning how things work, which aligns well with engineering.

4) If you were not an engineer, what alternative career would you have gone into?

I would probably be working in a Bank somewhere.

Maybe helping people manage their money.

5) What spurred you to develop an interest in finance?

Being unemployed and broke, I can say I probably didn’t have much of a choice.

After we had our daughter, I got desperate.

I started reading books about personal development to help me get my life back on track.

The main reason for me to try and maintain anonymity is the stuff I have written about the divorce, etc that I do not want my daughter stumbling onto until she is an adult.]

20) Do you have an annual retirement spending goal that you are aiming for? A target net worth? What would be your exit strategy after achieving these goals.

Not really, we are just going to take it step by step.

But our current spending is under $40K a year.

So by that model we only need $1MM in investments.

However I’d like to accumulate quite a bit more.

21) What is your greatest fear, if any, you have in retirement, and are there any ways you are addressing that now?

Hmmm, I really can’t think about any.

I guess a natural fear would be running out of money.

However with everything I know and have learned from this community, I find running out of money as a very unlikely scenario.

I’d probably do some kind of work to earn money if I see my portfolio headed in the wrong direction early in retirement.

Again thank you so much for your time answering these questions and being placed under the “X-ray beam.” I look forward to your continued posts and wish you much success.

If you are interested in checking out previous individuals that were brave enough to expose themselves to the beams of the X-ray, please check them outhere.

Note:

If you are in search of financial help, please consider enlisting the service of any of the sponsors of this blog who I feel are part of the “good guys and gals of finance.”

Even a steadfast DIY’er can sometimes gain benefit from the occasional professional input.

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As my email subscriber list grows it validates my decision to start this blog and to continue to try and provide worthy content for your eyes.

Thank you

-Xrayvsn

NOTE: The website XRAYVSN contains affiliate links and thus receives compensation whenever a purchase through these links is made (at no further cost to you). Although these proceeds help keep this site going they do not have any bearing on the reviews of any products I endorse which are from my own honest experiences. Thank you- XRAYVSN

Thanks for swinging by and reading about TJ. I too loved the step team response to my question (which was the first time I asked that line of questioning and liked the response so much I am going to add it to the lineup in future)

Another mathematical brain. Isn’t math awesome? When I read about half life theory, my heart was pumping for a physics or maths theorem. What I found was even better. Thanks for sharing your story. Current spending under 40k, lots of work to do here. We are already 60k without a house in Arkansas. .
Daughters are awesome. It shows you are an awesome parent.

Thanks for stopping by Frogdancer. TJ from Half-life is one of the people I consider a wordsmith. He has some amazing posts published already and I look forward to seeing new content from him. Glad I could turn you on to him.

Very perceptive DMF. TJ is the first non-physician volunteer to have his body irradiated with X-ray beams. LOL I really enjoy his blog and figured since I don’t need preauthorization from anyone why not have some non-physician subjects 🙂 Thanks for stopping by 🙂

Very well said. Just like someone’s net worth you can’t just compare yourself to them (if you do you will never be content). Their journey is different from yours plus they have likely started far earlier than you (in blogging that is a key factor, time, which has more compounding effect in terms of traffic than any financial analogy)